- UPDATES -
Last updated November 1, 2025
The Halifax Regional Council will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, Halifax City Hall (1841 Argyle Street, Halifax, NS), to consider amendments to short-term rental regulations for specified rural plan areas, as part of the comprehensive package of amendments to the Regional Municipal Planning Strategy (2014 Regional Plan) and all applicable planning documents.
To read the staff report and amendments, please see the December 2, 2025 Council Agenda here. If you have any questions regarding the shot-term rental regulations amendments, please contact regionalplan@halifax.ca
Public Hearing Participation
You can participate in the following ways:
For virtual speakers: Pre-registration is required by 10:00 a.m., on Thursday December 11, 2025, either through email at clerks@halifax.ca or by phone at 902-490-4210.
For in-person speakers: Pre-registration is not required but is encouraged due to the potentially high number of speakers. Email clerks@halifax.ca or phone 902-490-4210 to pre-register. Pre-registration is open until 10:00 a.m. on Thursday December 11, 2025. Speakers can also register in person on the meeting date starting at noon, in the main lobby of City Hall. Additionally, during the meeting after all registered speakers have been called, the Chair will then call three times for anyone else present who would like to speak.
Enhanced security processes to access the building, including security screening with X-ray and metal detection, as well as sign-in with government-issued photo ID, are in place. Please arrive early to allow for ample time to complete these processes before your time to speak. Learn more by visiting halifax.ca/visitingcityhall
Written Submissions: Written comments must be received by the Municipal Clerks Office by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday December 11, 2025. You can submit your comments through email at clerks@halifax.ca ; phone: 902-490-4210, or by Fax; 902-490-4208
More information about speaking, registration, and written submissions can be found here.
Recent
Regional Plan Review - Phase 4
On Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Halifax Regional Council received a staff report with information on this project. To read the staff report and recommendation, please see Council Agendaon May 27, 2025 Halifax Regional Council Agenda (Item 15.1.2).
Amendments to short-term rental regulations for specified six rural plan areas were included with the Regional Plan Review, Phase 4 package. On Thursday, June 19, 2025, Halifax Regional Council passed a motion to repeal the existing 2014 Regional Municipal Planning Strategy and adopt the proposed 2025 Regional Municipal Planning Strategy (Regional Plan) along with related amendments to applicable planning documents. To read the staff report and amendments, please see Item 4.1 of the June 19, 2025 Special Regional Council agenda.
In accordance with the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter, the 2025 Regional Plan are subject to review by the Provincial Planning Director. On Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, the Halifax Regional Municipality received a letter from the Province of Nova Scotia’s Minister of Municipal Affairs stating that the updated 2025 Regional Plan (including amendments to short-term rental regulations) could not be approved.
Provincial Minimal Planning Requirements
The Provincial refusal means that the current 2014 Regional Plan remains in effect. The 2014 Regional Plan is out of date and does not comply with the Minimum Planning Requirements. Under the HRM Charter, a municipal planning strategy must fulfill the Minimum Planning Requirements, Subsection 4A(3). On October 7, 2025, Regional Council directed staff to initiate a planning process to consider amendments to the current 2014 Regional Plan and other planning documents to comply with the Provincial Minimum Planning Requirements Regulations as well as for other areas of provincial interest which are primarily focused on housing supply. Changes to short-term rental regulations are also proposed as part of this amendment package. The changes proposed to short-term rental by-laws in rural areas are consistent with what Council previously approved in Summer 2025 but have not yet been enacted due to the province’s refusal of the proposed Regional Plan, Phase 4.
As part of the package projected for December 2025, a general provision is proposed to permit up to one dwelling unit to be used as a STR per property in all zones of the identified LUBs, so long as all other requirements of the LUB are met. This provision is proposed to apply in the following plan areas:
- Eastern Shore (West)
- Eastern Shore (East)
- Lawrencetown
- Musquodoboit Valley & Dutch Settlement
- Planning Districts 8 & 9
- Planning Districts 14 & 17
Project Background
On February 21, 2023, Regional Council approved amendments to municipal plans and land use by-laws to establish consistent region-wide policies and regulations for short-term rentals (STRs).
On September 1, 2023, new land-use by-law regulations came into effect. Previously, there were no consistent land-use by-law regulations in place for STRs. The amendments clarified where STRs are permitted, and where STRs must be located within the primary residence of the host. For more information, please see the staff report.
Regional Council then directed staff to examine whether the rural areas of the municipality required a different regulatory approach. For clarity, ‘rural’ means areas of the municipality that are located outside of the urban settlement boundary.
The municipality’s rural areas make up a vast amount of land, spanning from Hubbards to Ecum Secum. There are numerous natural tourist attractions in these areas, such as Peggy’s Cove, Lawrencetown Beach, and Martinique Beach. Many of the rural communities in the municipality include cottage-style developments, such as seasonal dwellings.
Since 2001, a tourist accommodation of one dwelling unit is permitted on every property in most of the western regions of the municipality, in communities such as Hubbards, Tantallon, Ketch Harbour, and the Prospect area. In the eastern regions, zoning is flexible and allows commercial uses as-of-right, including short-term rentals.
Proposal
Municipal staff are recommending amendments to land use by-laws to ensure consistency across the municipality. This includes introducing regulations to most rural areas of the municipality which would allow one dwelling unit per lot to be used as an STR. Few properties are anticipated to be impacted by this change.
The Short-term Rentals (STR) in Rural HRM Map below demonstrate where commercial short-term rentals are currently permitted within rural HRM with areas illustrated in grey. The areas illustrated in yellow, show where commercial STRs are currently not permitted within rural HRM and would be most impacted by these amendments. Please use the interactive map at the bottom of the page to determine if your property is located in rural HRM. 
The Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains, and Upper Sackville area and North Preston, Lake Major, Lake Loon, Cherry Brook, East Preston area are not proposed to be included as part of the proposed amendments for rural STRs. The municipality’s African Nova Scotia Community Action Plan (ANSCAP) team is currently working together with African Nova Scotian communities to consider new planning policies within the African Nova Scotian communities. The focus of this work is to create new Municipal Planning documents with a focus on responding to community concerns and opportunities. For additional information regarding the ongoing work with the municipality’s ANSCAP team within the Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains, and Upper Sackville Plan Area, please feel free to reach out to Devon Parris at Devon.Parris@halifax.ca or Miles Agar at agarm@halifax.ca.
Interactive Map
For the purpose of this project, 'rural HRM' means areas of Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) that are located outside of the urban settlement boundary.
Please click the interactive map below to determine if your property is located outside of the urban settlement boundary: Rural Short-term Rentals (STR) Interactive Map.
Learn More
To learn more about the project, please reach out to the project team by email:
- Anne Winters, Principal Planner, at Anne.Winters@halifax.ca
- Yanan Gou, Planner III, at Yanan.Gou@halifax.ca
